Everybody’s situation is different, of course, so there’s no one correct answer here. I had a May ‘17 class date and ended up delaying it for the maximum six months when an opportunity came up last minute to work on an America’s Cup sailboat in Newport, RI. I had a great time, met a lot of cool people and acquired great sailing experience. By some accounts here I screwed myself by delaying. Either way I don’t sweat it. My QOL was tremendous that summer and the contacts/experiences from it might actually benefit my QOL even more later down the road. Regardless of whether you choose the first available class date or delay it, living life constantly second guessing your decisions is no way to live. In the grand scheme of things, a high seniority number won’t, by itself, always make you happy. That family vacation might very well be worth taking a later class.